The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is planning to allow taxi drivers who are over 65 years old to continue working, providing they pass an official health examination.
Currently, taxi drivers must retire when they reach 65. The new policy will enable them to drive until they turn 68.
Those who are 60 years old and above are obligated to have health examinations once every year. Those who are under 60 must have a health examination once every three years.
Jack Hsu (�?h), director general of the MOTC’s Department of Railways and Highways, said yesterday that the ministry is in the process of completing all legal procedures, and the new policy is scheduled to be executed next month.
Approximately 10,000 taxi drivers may be able to hit the road again once the policy takes effect.
The ministry has also required the drivers to indicate problems staying awake during the daytime in a self-evaluated form.
Drivers who indicate one of these problems are required to undergo a formal evaluation in the hospital.
Drivers who have a body mass index exceeding 30 will not be allowed to drive. Also, drivers cannot have any lung problems or infectious diseases.
The ministry also said yesterday that it will start giving out subsidies for gas to city bus and freeway bus operators as well as taxi drivers next week.
The measure will continue from now until the end of this year.
The announcement came a week after the Executive Yuan decided to raise the retail gas price.
Specifically, the ministry will subsidize the city and freeway bus operators to the tune of NT$7.4 per liter of gas.
For taxis that have raised their rates since May last year, each will get a subsidy of NT$3.9 per liter.
Those that have not raised the rate, however, will each get a subsidy of NT$5.9 per liter. Drivers are required to have gas cards issued by CPC, Taiwan (台灣中油), and accounts in which money has to be added every month.
Taxi drivers will then receive either a NT$4 or a NT$6 rebate for each liter purchased. The subsidy is capped at 450 liters per month.
In addition to the monthly subsidy, taxi drivers will also get subsidies for gas used between May 28 and May 31.
In total, drivers in the former category will each receive NT$1,981 this month, whereas those in the latter category will each receive NT$2,881.
CPC, Taiwan will start taking applications for drivers who haven’t owned gas cards on Monday.
All card owners could start receiving the subsidies next Thursday.
Hsu emphasized that the ministry will reduce the subsidy if the retail gas price drops, but it will not raise the subsidy beyond the stated amount even if the retail price continues to rise over the next six months.
Meanwhile, the ministry is considering requiring taxis to pick up passengers at designated taxi stops instead of at the roadside. The planned move however has so far met with criticism from taxi drivers.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,